Three Men in a Boat (Library of Essential Reading Series) FROM THE PUBLISHER
Over one hundred years after it was first published, Jerome K. Jerome's classic account of an eccentric journey up the Thames by rowing boat remains as popular as ever. The erratic progress of J., Harris, George and Montmorency the dog is peppered with hilarious and memorable incidents, such as the struggle with the pineapple tin and Harris's run-in with the swans. Jerome's timeless comedy is brought vividly to life in this paperback classic edition through glorious colour illustrations that evoke the long, lazy days of one golden Victorian summer.
SYNOPSIS
Jerome K. Jerome's comic classic Three Men in a Boat (To say nothing of the Dog!) is unsinkable. One of the most widely read and beloved works of British fiction it has never fallen out of print since it first came out in 1889, but rather has been translated into many languages and even turned into a teleplay by Tom Stoppard.
The most ordinary circumstances turn hilarious as J., an idler who exhibits a "general disinclination to work of any kind," and his friends journey up the Thames River. Getting into many scrapes along the way, the friends consider "assaulting a policeman" just to have "a night's lodging in the station-house," when they get lost, but ultimately reject the proposition, fearful that he would hit them back without locking them up. The real scene stealer, though, is Montmorency, a small fox terrier who appears to be "born with about four times as much original sin in [him] as other dogs are."
FROM THE CRITICS
AudioFile - Breda M. White
Jerome exploits an innocuous boating excursion by three gentlemen to comment on the halcyon days of Victorian England. He contrasts the shallow, self-centered upper-classes with Englandﾽs great power and prestige at the apex of her influence. Carmichael, the quintessential English gentleman, captures perfectly the delicious inanity of our intrepid heroesﾽ conversations and the bemusement of the locals they meet along the way. He conveys beautifully Jeromeﾽs evocative, almost wistful, descriptions of Thames-side towns whose august historical pasts illustrate the glory that was Britain. This delightful performance crystallizes the authorﾽs humor and vision and is sure to enchant its audience. B.M.W. An AUDIOFILE Earphones Award winner ﾽAudioFile, Portland, Maine
ACCREDITATION
By the time Jerome Klapka Jerome (1859-1927) was fourteen years old, both of his parents had died leaving him and his two older sisters in utter poverty. His tried earning money as a clerk on Englandﾽs railway but preferred ﾽthe life whose glorious uncertainty almost rivals that of the turf,ﾽ that is, the theater. In 1885 he wrote his first book, On the Stage and Off, The Brief Career of a Would-Be Actor. However it wasnﾽt until 1889, when he published Three Men in a Boat, that he finally reached financial security. His other well-known work is the autobiography My Life and Times.
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